Like many pivotal American Civil War battlefields in the South, there is not much left. Kennesaw Mountain is part of The Atlanta Champaign, but the Battle of Atlanta proper, has this small slice in honor of one of the U.S. Armies most popular leaders: Major General James Birdseye McPherson (November 14, 1828 – July 22, 1864). In fact, he was popular with many officers in the Confederate command, for his fair treatment of the vanquished of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

The park is so obscure I passed it twice without noticing the tiny partial. It is possibly the smallest Civil War Park in the nation.

The 35 year old West Pointer was the second highest ranking solider killed in the war and was mourned by advisories Generals John B. Hood and Joseph E. Johnston. It is located near East Atlanta Village.

“The 16.5-acre prison opened in April 1862. A 15-foot-high wooden stockade surrounded 12 two-story prisoner housing barracks, a hospital, latrines, sutler’s stand, three wells, a pest house, and two large mess halls (added in August 1864).” …read more on Wikipedia

Johnson’s Island is a residential community now, but the stockade cemetery remains, and is very well maintained. It has 206 headstones (a little over 20 men were taken back south after the war). The grounds are patrolled by private security, and the local community is very protective of this historical landmark. The site includes a Confederate monument, the only remaining one in Ohio (the Camp Chase monument was destroyed in 2017 by activist).

A three point 360º virtual reality tour of the stockade cemetery:

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By Bob Henderson

This authors GGF, 2nd Lt. Walter Scott Bearden and twin brother 3rd Lt. Edwin Ryall Bearden 41st Tennessee Infantry, were sent here after their capture at Fort Donelson, TN. They were exchanged in 1862 and resumed duty at Vicksburg.

The Battle That Saved Missouri for the Union:

“Keeping Missouri in the Union was a prime objective of the Federal government dur­ing the first year of the Civil War. It was the reason that the Battle of Wilson’s Creek was fought near Springfield, Mo., in August 1861, and it was one of the reasons for the battle at Pea Ridge in March 1862. The Pea Ridge Campaign began on Christ­mas Day, 1861, with the appointment of Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis to command the Federal Southwestern District of Missouri. Curtis’s main objective was to drive the Confederate and pro-Confederate forces from the state.

By mid-February 1862 he and his troops had chased their main opponents, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price and the pro-Confed­erate Missouri State Guard, into Arkansas. In the Boston Mountains south of Fayette­ville, Price joined forces with Brig. Gen. Ben McCulloch’s Confederates. There on March 4 Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn took command of this combined 16,000-man army and led it north, intending to strike into Missouri and capture St. Louis. But Curtis’s 10,500 Federals were dug in across his path on the bluffs above Little Sugar Creek, not far from Elkhorn Tavern and nearby Elkhorn Mountain (part of the larger Pea Ridge plateau).

Van Dorn knew that a frontal assault against Curtis’s troops would be suicidal, so he swung north to come in behind them. He planned to strike at dawn on March 7, but his troops, hungry, cold, and weary from a difficult three-day march, arrived hours behind schedule. McCulloch’s troops fell so far behind that Van Dorn decided to temporarily divide his army. He ordered McCulloch around the west end of Elkhorn Mountain, then to turn east along Ford Road to rejoin Price’s troops near Elkhorn Tavern.

These delays gave Curtis time to face about and prepare for the attack. As McCulloch’s troops, including two regi­ments of Cherokee Indians under Brig. Gen. Albert Pike, were engaged in this maneuver, they ran into intensive fire near Leetown that killed McCulloch and Brig. Gen. James McIntosh and led to the capture of the ranking colonel. With their command struc­ture practically destroyed, McCulloch’s men scattered from the field. Attacking east of Elkhorn Mountain, Van Dorn and Price fared better.

Price’s Missouri­ans slowly but steadily pushed the Federals back until, at nightfall, they held Elkhorn Tavern and the crucial Telegraph and Hunts­ville roads. During the night the survivors of McCulloch’s Leetown fight joined them. On the morning of March 8, Curtis counter­attacked in the tavern area.

A two-hour ar­tillery barrage crippled the Confederate line and a concerted infantry attack broke their defenses. Realizing that his ammunition was running low, Van Dorn ordered his troops to withdraw. The battle of Pea Ridge was over, and most of the Union and Confederate troops moved east of the Mississippi to fight in other campaigns. Missouri remained in the Union and politically neutral through­out the war, although it provided men and supplies to both sides.” – National Park Service Brochure

Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow:

Revised 22 December 2017

December 21, 2017 – Lt. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest’s statue was removed by the city of Memphis, Tennessee to an undisclosed location. They city bi-passed the state law on removing historical monuments from public land – so they sold it.

What will they do with his General and Mrs. Forrest buried beneath it?

February 2017:

It was with some trepidation, that I set off for Memphis to shoot Nathan Bedford Forrest. The former Nathan Bedford Forrest Park has been renamed the Health Sciences Park on Union Street. Arriving at 7 AM, I had the place to myself. Metered parking was available on South Dunlap street (no weekend fee). To my relief, there had been no desecration of the monument.

Recent efforts my the Memphis City Council to remove the statue to another city was rejected by the Tennessee Historical Commission… read more

I proceeded north towards Henning, Tennessee to shoot Fort Pillow State Historic Park. It was about and hour and a half drive. Bass boats periodically droned up and down Cold Creek below the fort. It’s not easy to find and not very well marked. I am going to submit an update to Google Maps.

Parking at the trail and head on Crutcher Lake Road, it was about a mile hike to the restored earthworks. In the hour and a half I spent there, on a clear warm Saturday morning, I encountered no visitors.

Suggested reading on the larger historical perspective of this controversial figure of American history:

“Having once been a racist, Nathan Bedford Forrest became an outspoken advocate of black civil rights in Memphis, culminating in his beautiful yet largely forgotten speech before the black civil rights Pole-Bearers Association in 1875. Encouraging the black people in attendance to take an active part in their country’s government, he told them he was with them ‘heart and hand’ to help their cause in any way he could.” – Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Redemption

Check this 3D like 360º virtual tour of Fort Pillow and Nathan Bedford Forrest park. Historical markers are embedded in the tour.

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Battle of Franklin

Take a virtual tour of the historic American Civil War sites in Franklin, Tennessee. Shot on location at The Carter House, Cotton Gin, Fort Granger, Winstead Hill and Carnton Plantation.

Note: get the full screen mode by clicking the icon in the lower left of the video frame. A zoom option is available also for reading the historical signage. Some markers are embedded in the floating icons.

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